TBF, Mags, you have been doing a lot of the heavylifting for the quest, so this will be in good hands.
To be clear to everyone, this is just me burning out on imagination of the quest, since my muse has been hitting me over the head a lot with so many different ideas that I just can't find myself too interested in this.
I'll still hang out here, though, since this still does have a sepcial place in my heart.
I'd like to thank you all for making this a wonderful experience while it lasted.
I'd also like to thank @Magoose, @Fluffy_serpent, and @Martin Noctis for doing so much to help prepare and write this quest. I couldn't have done it without you all.
Bomberman Designed By: Shinichi Nakamoto
Game Developer: LucasArts Entertainment
Published By: Sega Corporation
Release: March 1984
Genre: Maze, Puzzle, Strategy
Holy Shit! Shinichi Nakamoto created one of the best games ever!
That was your, and everyone's reactions, when the results came out with the number of units that Bomberman, a game that no one had even thought would garner the same amount of praise or numbers as Final Fantasy or The King of Dragons did. A game whose entire formula could have easily been extracted in simply three steps, and a game that so many expected it to go the same way as Pirate Ship Higemaru due to the new "Cute" touches that had been added to the original design after the arrival of the Genesis Console, along with the retooling done by the now rechristened "Team Bomber" that Nakamoto is now in charge of.
But how the heck did this happen?
The entire game was set up and worked on in his free time, and while you don't want to think less of anyone, most of his team was still made up out of those that had yet to be accepted into bigger projects, mostly because most of the games Nakamoto tended to work on were of the more simple type; Mr. Goemon, one of the games that had been done in record time, was one of those, and though it had done well enough to warrant a sequel if pushed for (and you've heard that there are some members who might be interested in such) it had still not gone as far as to become an overnight sensation in both America and Japan.
So, perhaps it might behoove you to start from the beginning.
It all began with a simple design, a small pixelated little man in white that Nakamoto had been working on when he was still an employee for Hudson Soft, something he had been told to work in during his many, many, many hours of unpaid overtime (Seriously Japan, what the heck?!) in order to have a presentation during one of the tech expo's. Shinichi though, had different ideas when he decided that his design belonged to him as he left for LucasArts to work in.
And yet he forgot about it during the time in between. To be fair, it was a very hectic period with the entire company needing to be reorganized and established, but at the same time, it would have saved all of you a lot of problems and headaches had he just come out and showed you the freaking little program. Mostly because in the time between, Hudson had decided to partner with one of the remaining videogame companies known as Broderbund to bring about an interesting game known as Lode Runner. Nothing wrong there, and you'd even grant them that it was pretty fun if only to kill time for a while.
But then, the idea to create a sequel to the game, using the very design that Shinichi had come up with arose, and at the worst time possible as well. A project that would have worked as a prequel, would have helped their company to move forwards in their videogame design and production, while at the same time forming further alliances with Broderbund, while they could court the different consoles in Japan as well.
Yeah, not the best time for your company to start working on said project either.
But it all came to a head however when Nakamoto, after finishing his design on Mr. Goemon, decided that now was the best time to introduce his white little friend to the rest of the world...and Hudson Soft somehow managed to get the news about it fast enough to threaten a lawsuit over it. As far as they were concerned, the entire design, name, and idea for the game was something that belonged to them, and that Nakamoto had taken it with him and tried to make something of it without paying royalties or getting their permissions was going against the proprietary rights of the company.
On your side however, the argument remained that Nakamoto had done the entire work, during periods of time where he was not remunerated, and as such he was entitled to keep his intellectual property to with as he pleased. Perhaps it was not said in such blunt terms when answering back, but it was enough to make it clear how LucasArts was not backing down from their position, and they had their programmers back when it came down to it.
So, for the first time, LucasArts would be going to court in order to defend the intellectual property of one of your employees. In Japan. While having to deal with Proprietary and Patent law in a country where you knew nothing about it.
You could practically hear your legal team crying.
You were not there to be participate or be of much help about it (GODDAMMIT CONAN!!!) but the entire situation was a mess and a half from what you heard. The entire legal phase was confusing enough, and had your entire legal team scurrying about trying to understand just what kind of laws they would be dealing with, while at the same time Nakamoto had to be either testifying in court, or working with his team on the game, which he was still not willing to give up on.
He was still a realist though, which is why he told them to break molds on and bring in their entire creativity for when they presented their ideas. Everything was allowed, whether changing the character, the gameplay, introducing new characters, just everything. His plan was to have a fallback in case the court's decision did not go in his favor, and thus be able to quickly use an alternate version of the game ready to be developed.
...You don't really know whether to praise his forward thinking, or just lament the state of laws when it comes to plagiarism.
In the end however, it all came down to one simple entity; Nintendo. The company that had become a giant and dominated (for now) the American Market in videogames, the company that Hudson Soft was hoping to court in order to release their games.. and the company that so far had a friendly relationship with you and was quite willing to lend their lawyers to you in order to fix this matter in exchange for some favor in the future when it comes to your animation department.
Wonder what Miyamoto meant when he mumbled about "Epic Zelda content" and "Samus as never seen before".
Eh, you'll leave that to Tomino back at DreamWorks.
In the end, Hudson saw the writing on the wall, and decided to settle things out of court, asking for a one-time payment and getting into the good graces of Nintendo at the same time. Mike agreed to it and just washed his hands on the entire matter once it was over. The game could continue as it was, there would no longer be any need to change names or genres, and at last there would be no other obstacles in sight for the rest of its development.
Good thing too, you don't think anyone is going to like playing a game called Eric and the Floaters.
And yet, the whole crisis may just have been a blessing in disguise for the overall game.
Beforehand, Nakamoto had been planning to just give it the old updated look, change some of the pixels and colors, perhaps try and update the music a little bit, but in the end just keep the idea of the game just as it had been developed at first, before the entire push to excellence for the Genesis had come forth.
With the threat of being sued and the game not seeing the light of day however, and his team being given the order to innovate as many different paths as possible, what came out in the end was a smorgasbord of ideas and add-ons for the game; New Power-Ups that could be added, different types of enemies, new background designs and mazes, there was even ideas of changing the overall background story of the game for something a bit more lighthearted (though Nakamoto took note of that for later games he said), even going to the point of designing a side-scroller option that would have the titular Bomberman just move forward while bombing all enemies a la Mario style.
Needless to say, Nakamoto axed the last one with prejudice. They just got out of one lawsuit with Hudson, they are not about to enter another with Nintendo.
But many of the different plans for the game would go forward, beginning with the upgrade with the new technological advance from the Sega Genesis. Unlike the previous games like Final Fantasy however, much of the coding and programming did not have to go to an expanded and all-encompassing world, thanks to the fact that aside from improving some levels (and adding some as well) the game did not need much to make it fun. The overall story followed the titular Bomberman as a robot living a dreary life in an unidentified planet, only working in drudgery and bomb-making. One day, in the middle of his next batch of chores, he happened to overhear a rumor, a tall tale mentioning how if a robot manages to reach the surface of the planet, then he will "become human". It's a ludicrous idea, something out of sheer fantasy and desperation, yet Bomberman feels the need to at least try, to escape his current life no matter cost.
As such, taking on the bombs he can make as his primary weapons, and moving through the underground fortress/factory on his path to freedom, Bomberman must struggle to find the surface, and once and for all discover what it means to "become human".
You would have played the game if only for that story, wanting to see just what will happen next; what will be the end result of it all, will Bomberman really become human, or if it's all a cruel joke in the end. You can imagine an entire movie being made out of this concept, and in making it a videogame, it can be elevated to a greater height by the players experiencing it altogether.
And yet, because of such a dramatic cutscene, when you began to play the game and see what you're up against, you feel a sudden shift that in many ways can only increase your impetus going forward. The entire design went from simple pixelated 8-bits into 16-bit graphics that can give a true feeling of the areas that you are moving through thanks to the definition and the greater color palette with which one can work with. Where before Bomberman was nearly a white splotch, he's now a more detailed looking robot with both arms and legs, along with an antenna on his head, shades of pink and blue finishing his ensemble. It is a really cute design that in many ways does not seem to fit with the entire dark story background of his, but it does seem to complement it instead.
Many of the original enemies received the same upgrade, moving them from simple, ill defined, geometrical creatures to more detailed, colorful, and complex enemies, taking away many of their glitchy movements and keeping nothing more than flowing and smooth patterns that nonetheless work with the computer to form a real challenge when confronted. Nakamoto and "Team Bomber" worked hard in order to also make use of what many are now calling "environmental storytelling" by making each stage have its own unique theme and atmosphere. Sure, each of them may be a maze, but each fit with the entire story of trying to escape a subterranean fortress, while also having to go through a factory, by having the different walls at time be decorated with machinery, or other having a more metallic shine to them.
But it's what they did in the final levels of the game what truly made it shine among the original plans. Where the game before had around five levels, this time there are 10 overall levels to transverse, the final five now encompassing mazes that can't encompass the entire screen, but instead need you to move even further to try and solve. And of course, what is a more complex maze without more complex enemies. You're sure everyone would have been as surprised as you when during the final steps of the fifth maze, just as you were about to form the final path for the exit, "he" just so happened to appear. You know you could not have been the only one to jump as "he" moved so fast in your direction, and the shock of what you were seeing had you remain still as he approached and outright killed you right then and there.
"Grey Bomberman", a complete match for Bomberman himself in a grey and red palette, and as you would soon come to discover, your entire bane through the final five mazes.
That... thing, could only be one of the most despicable creatures to have come from the mouth of hell itself. A being that exists only to bring misery and pain whenever you are reaching the final levels, taunting you with the hope that you could finally reach the end before dashing away all of your hopes and dreams as you scream in vain at the screen for you character to move. You even tried to leave a trail of bombs once as you fled, and in the end it only made you move slower as he reached you, moving through them as if they were nothing.
You grew to loathe the Grey Bomberman, and you're sure that you were not the only one who felt stymied by such an unreasonable obstacle in halfway through the game.
Which made it all the more embarrassing when Mary pointed out how you could just leave obstacles in his path by strategically leaving some walls in his path as you escaped...
...You might not be as good in videogames as you thought.
Regardless, finding out the trick to finally get away from what is clearly the game's personal nemesis did not make it a cakewalk as one would have expected, but it did shift it from an impossible wall to a difficult challenge, one that you had to wrack your brains to overcome through strategic thinking and judicious use of bombs, as well as planning what direction it would take and how to overcome it eventually as you tried to flee to the next level.
But it was all worth it to see the final cutscene, the moment when Bomberman finally reached the surface and you were treated to a beautiful rendition of the outside, where instead of a land ravaged by technology and destruction, Bomberman sees life moving around, sees the night sky full of stars as he wonders about them, and a big happy smile breaks on his face at the thought of being able to decide his own fate from that moment on. The final message, of being able to choose one's own destiny resonated with you in such a profound way that for a moment you wondered if there would be more to do in the game, to actually put it into practice for the little guy.
It bummed you out a little seeing it not to be so as the credits rolled, and yet you could not help but feel that you had fun. The entire premise had been outright simple, the mazes had been complex but not mind breakingly so, the enemies had been a challenge but (aside from the Grey Bomberman) something that you could plan ahead and find weaknesses for after a few runs.
But above all, you found that you would not have minded playing the game again if it came down to it, perhaps with your other little goslings at that. this was a game that really managed to hook you with the ease at which you could have fun with, no matter how many times you played it.
It was not your thoughts about it, but the rest of the buyers and players as well. Though Bomberman's first appearance may have not seemed like much, especially with the design and premise, usually so far away from what they expected from the top games of the Sega, it had nonetheless grown from word of mouth as more and more units were sold, until they actually had to call the company to re-issue more of them since orders kept on piling up one after the other.
There is also the simplicity of the game that imitates the original simple gameplay of yore, without all the needless complications that other controls or consoles would add or mix when making it. The games is basically dropping bombs and blow-up enemies in a grid-based environment, while also trying to obtain the power ups left by the enemies. You do not need to add any instructions or even a manual for it, all you need to do if you want to start the game without even seeing the cutscene is press start, and intuitively press the buttons to understand just what it is you need to do. The screen also has no other secret to it, save for the strategic thinking you may need to do in order to face the enemies, along with the pattern recognition... especially for that Grey Bomberman!!
But what truly made it stand out was something that not even Nakamoto could have thought of by himself, nor did the members of "Team Bomber", but instead it came from the most unlikely source; another designer who was currently working on a different project who just so happened to pass by during the entire trial, where the group was thinking of, and developing new ideas for the game. A programmer whose previous works in different systems and the future capabilities of what could be done with videogames had him take a look at the gameplay, the grid-based screen, and the strategic type of moves one would have to take in facing the enemies, and could only think of one thing to ask.
"Can you make it so that there's a Multiplayer mode?"
And that's how Chip Morningstar became part of "Team Bomber" if only for the moment. A designer and programmer who'd been part of "Project Xanadu" before he joined LucasArts, and a man thoroughly convinced of the validity of the use of the Internet for playing videogames in the future, he saw the game as a chance to put into practice some of his ideas for Multiplayer gaming beyond just a single person facing against the computer, or two people taking turns in order to play. Instead, he wanted something similar to the Arcade Cabinets that allowed two players to play at the same time, either together or against themselves, and this game showed the greatest promise for the latter.
Battle Mode, the newest addition to the game after putting in the newest five levels and enemies, became one of the most revolutionary multiplayer modes for any of the consoles currently in the market. The chance to play with friends or against the computer itself, selecting from any of the different mazes and selecting the difficulty, proving your own strategic acuity against your friends as you bomb them over and over either by the allotted time or until their lives end. It was one of the most intensive and fun type of gameplays that there had been made, and it pushed the sales of the game to heights not foreseen at the time.
Chip wanted to go even further though, and it was only thanks to Nakamoto coming in at the right time that there was not an add on so that four people could play at the same time. nod don't get you wrong, it sounds like an amazing idea, but you're not sure if you want to try and create add-ons for only one game. You're not Nintendo after all.
Huh, hopefully they never find out about that comment.
Overall, the game became an instant success in part for the new multiplayer game in combination with the single player mode. It appeared in news as the newest sensation after Mario, with children were demanding their parents for a console so they could play the game (and it was one of the contributing factors for so many sales in America) with teens and older players following suit as they bought more consoles than expected this year. It was a pleasant surprise for everyone involved, especially with Nakamoto now feeling utterly vindicated on his decision... and perhaps a bit petty in how he sent the sales numbers to Hudson Soft along with a picture that you're not going to think much about it.
God, you're just glad they did not decide to sue again.
But above all, Bomberman may have just achieved what you had been thinking of since the first release of your games, what Mike had told you that you would need if you wanted to play in parity with Nintendo when it came to marketing and advertisements...
Bomberman may have just become the mascot character for the Sega Genesis.
It should really not surprise you though, since despite Final Fantasy's appeal and groundbreaking numbers (along with The King of Dragons), in the end, they are quite niche titles for a specific audience. Furthermore, the former seemed to be developing to be an Anthology, which precluded said characters from being front and center in all sequels, while the latter was a one-off as far as the developer is concerned.
But Bomberman, he has this appeal in him for players of all ages; a dark, mysterious past, a cool ability that can be changed thanks to the many power ups that he can gain through the game. Generic, fun enemies that prove a challenge until the real big, bad appears, where he then has to find a way to overcome and escape from. And an optimistic, nearly cute tone and background that complements the former rather than create dissonance.
Whichever way you want to put it, you may have just lucked out here.
Mike however is never one to let an opportunity slip by, and is making sure to take advantage of this windfall by plastering the little robot in every single piece of Sega Merchandise he can think of to make the connection as unassailable as possible. He may claim that he does not know how to promote videogames, but he knows better than anyone when it comes to merchandising the hell out of it. Soon enough, the console boxes have Bomberman on it, along with the different types of merchandise that Sega produces in a bid to counter Nintendo's own Mario. Heck, you think he would have demanded that the Sega logo was added to his character if the technology was available.
...Note to self, discourage him from doing so even when the technology becomes available.
There was some criticism to the game, because of course there is, mostly critics claiming the game as being overly simplistic as if that was a bug rather than a feature, not liking much of the design choices for the aesthetic for the character, and of course there are a new group of moral guardians now arguing how games like this are the reason why children are doing worse in school, or are becoming dumber, or waste away their days inside rather than trying for more physical activities, thus blaming every single one their children's problems into a single, convenient place rather than face the fact that perhaps they could have just as easily try to inculcate some discipline on their own children.
Is it that hard to ask to spend some time with their children?
There are still others however that have managed to praise the game for what it is; a perfectly developed quality game, far and away from the "shovel ware" that the old games were usually sold before. Credit where its due, its managed to single out LucasArts as the main American company responsible for a new age of quality in the U.S., where the trust of the costumer is finally being restored, and with many other companies following suit in your footsteps as well, with actual quality controls rather than just throwing it all out there hoping that anyone is dumb enough to just buy it.
Not everyone seems to be happy with the results however. Hudson Soft tried launching the sequel to Load Runner they planned for, with the graphics being somewhat similar to what you did with Bomberman, yet distinct enough so as to not make any legal response feasible. Yet, in the end Dyna Blaster never took off beyond their own country. It was fun, sure, but it was no Bomberman; the lack of fun gameplay, battle mode, or even the new and improved multiplayer made it just a poor man's attempt at trying to take advantage of the current wave of support for the game.
In the end though, much of the support for Bomberman seems to have found its roots in North America, while Japan sees it as a fun and quirky kind of game, but nothing to get that excited about. As a consequence, many of the fans of the game seemed to have organized into a small competitive league for videogames. It's still a local thing in the state of Ohio, and there does not seem to be much organization around it yet, but they're mostly just competing amongst themselves, and then having the winners compete against the different winners from different cities and towns, with the winner getting a small price and bragging rights about being the best at the Bomberman's Battle Mode.
There are even talks about it becoming like the old Atari competitions, though Mike is balking at it, not willing to try and give the kind of prices Atari would give. And after doing some research you are in full agreement with him. Who tries to give solid gold crowns, or an actual sword?! What did they think the kids were going to do with them?
Jesus, no wonder they eventually went down.
Your little goslings seem to enjoy the competition among themselves however, as one of the very few games that allow for more than a single player to enjoy. Mary still reigns supreme above both Joseph and Sarah, who still compete against each other for the coveted second place, whereas little George... just looks when he has the time.
He also does not like the Grey Bomberman. Such a wise little boy.
Video Game Pitch: Hang-On Game Developer: LucasArts Entertainment Platform: Sega Arcade Director: Yu Suzuki Genre: Racing
Premise: A motorcycle racing game, Hang-On differs from other Arcade cabinets in that players must ride an attached simulated motorcycle and move with it to play the game with players using an accelerator and brake on the right and left sides of the steering handle respectively and then shifting their bodies left or right to move as such in the game.
Gameplay sees players selecting one of three linear race tracks to play. The first is a flat outdoor though curving Country track, the second is a flat through with occasional elevations Urban track. The third is a downhill slope Mountainous race. Each respective course is of increasing difficulty and requires greater control of speed and turns. Each track is divided into five stages and the goal is not to race others, but to beat the time. At the start, players have 75 seconds to reach the second stage or it will be game over. At each stage from stage 2 onwards, reaching it will give the player 60 seconds to add to the time. The game finishes once players complete stage 5 of a track.
Hey guys, I've been thinking abot some of the movies we could try making, as well as which one we could get the right to. And aside from those famous ones like Field of Dreams or perhaps The Pope of Greenwich Village (which at this point I think we may have to distribute) I was thinking we could perhaps buy the rights for a book called "To Live and Die in LA", which was adapted into a movie that, in my opinion, is quite underrated for its story and direction.
William Friedkin himself directed and co-wrote the treatment, so we would already have those covered, and woth our better distribution and marketing, we could make the film a success. What do you think?
What year is it? Because, given Cartoon Saloon opens it's doors in 1999 I am wondering if Bruce being around might speed that up.
Because I would 100% like to poach that ENTIRE STUDIO and make all their movies having them as an allied studio we can distribute and support would also be great.
NO! Stop giving everything to DreamWorks. As much as I appreciate them, how about you let some other studios shine? I have some ideas for Blue Sky.
For starters, get Lantz to work on a new Woody Woodpecker project, then have them get Don Bluth for stuff like A American Tail, Land Before Time and All Dogs Go To Heaven. I'd also have BS get into TV animation ASAP. It's 1983, right, and the video game crash hasn't happened, and Saturday Supercade was a thing......why not have Blue Sky/Lantz make a Mario series with Nintendo and Toei? It'd be a good idea, and it'd be a earlier Nintendo-Illumination type of thing. And it'd make for a ACTUALLY good reason for Blue Sky to be part of the Big 3.
NO! Stop giving everything to DreamWorks. As much as I appreciate them, how about you let some other studios shine? I have some ideas for Blue Sky.
For starters, get Lantz to work on a new Woody Woodpecker project, then have them get Don Bluth for stuff like A American Tail, Land Before Time and All Dogs Go To Heaven. I'd also have BS get into TV animation ASAP. It's 1983, right, and the video game crash hasn't happened, and Saturday Supercade was a thing......why not have Blue Sky/Lantz make a Mario series with Nintendo and Toei? It'd be a good idea, and it'd be a earlier Nintendo-Illumination type of thing. And it'd make for a ACTUALLY good reason for Blue Sky to be part of the Big 3.
What are you on about? Don works for us, not Blue Sky. And if anybody else is getting animation work it should be indies who then end up collaborating with us.
Also Land Before Time stays with us, period. It's the only way I can think of that we'll be in place to prevent Judith Barsi's murder alongside her mom's.
It happend a year earlier in 1982 and was more destructive. It caused the video games industry to nearly die out and the computer industry to go into a panic.
What does 'unstoppable juggernaut' mean in this context? That after a certain while movie rolls gain a debuff to simulate decling quality or something? Or is it that rival studio's are currently having lower rolls that wil ramp up in the future? Because honestly I feel like we're neck on neck with Disney with BlueSky on the rise (though I've been busy with other things so I might have missed something's).
What does 'unstoppable juggernaut' mean in this context? That after a certain while movie rolls gain a debuff to simulate decling quality or something? Or is it that rival studio's are currently having lower rolls that wil ramp up in the future? Because honestly I feel like we're neck on neck with Disney with BlueSky on the rise (though I've been busy with other things so I might have missed something's).
I can understand that we are not going to be the top dog forever, and in fact I would welcome the competition. At the same time, I don't think we've been the top dog yet at all. The one studio that managed to get their groundbreaking new animated film was Disney with War of the Worlds. Our first movie debut was not their equal. At the moment we are in a close race with Disney to try and take the throne, and we have a resurgent Blue Sky who will surely make trouble for us at any moment.
So, I think we first must become the unstoppable Juggernaut before we lose the title.
To be fair, I think things have come pretty even so far in the animation world, at least in terms of theatrical animation. Disney has been on a roll and had consistent and very profitable wins since War of the Worlds which is known as one of the greatest movies, and Black Cauldron made some waves. Overall the Rennasaince is starting for them and they got Miyazaki in their corner. Blue Sky after a very rough start definitively won 1983 for animation with Hotel Transylvania which made half a billion dollars and is arguably gonna be a major cultural part of the 80s.
When it comes to Dreamworks, while we've been consistently top in terms of quality, in terms of cultural power and box office, John Henry is the only one that has risen to be among the top of film in general with it making nearly a billion dollars and being one of the best stories while uplifting John Henry into a true American icon. None of the other Dreamworks films have crossed $300 Million.
Really, Dreamworks has mainly been the juggernaught in terms of TV animation thanks to Gundam, Miraculous and its uplifting of Hanna-Barbera. Yet even here Disney is catching up with DuckTales and they've picked up some of the best non-Sunrise anime.
Like I said before, I am writing right now an Omake to show how the independent studios are doing in TV animation, and it should lead to some very interesting and competitive work. Even if Dreamworks is objectively the best in terms of animation quality, things are getting very crowded and competitive in the world of animation.
We're definitely one of the big dogs but I've never thought of us as an "Unstoppable Juggernaut". I knew that competition would start to pick up once people finally started to realize that animation doesn't have to be just kid stuff.* Some people are going to get ideas and others are going to start seeing dollar signs. Some will fail and others will succeed and by the end we'll have some more animation studios out there. At the end of the day as long as we're still standing, having fun and making a profit (and nobody does any shady bullshit) I'm fine with more quality animation.
*Not that there's anything wrong with kid stuff mind you.
Video Game Pitch: Bomberman Royale Game Developer: LucasArts Entertainment Platform: Sega Arcade Director: Shinichi Nakamoto
Genre: Maze, Action
Premise: Bomberman Royale is a multiplayer only arcade game that features the same gameplay mechanics as shown in the Battle Mode of Bomberman. The main feature of Bomberman Royale is that it allows four players to play against one another at the cabinet along with a much wider screen, and thus larger arena for battles. In the absence of four players, players can play from 1-3 player with the remainder being computers.
Players can chose from eight different colored Bomberman listed as:
Eh, I figure I might as well post this one now. It's a fun game, and I think it can have a good place in the Arcade, mainly because unlike OTL, we have more fun games to use in the Genesis.
Thus, I give you:
Videogame Pitch: Super Thunder Blade
Set Up: Based on the Blue Thunder movie from 1983, the game follows a helicopter gunship using its chain gun and missiles to destroy enemy tanks, helicopters, and other vehicles and structures, to save their home country. Each level is in either a top-down or third-person perspective view.
Game Developer: LucasArts Entertainment Platform: Arcade Director: Yuji Naka Genre: Action, Shooter, Combat Flight Simulator
The player takes control of a helicopter which is used to attack a group of guerrillas. The helicopter itself uses guns and missiles, and can also air brake. A distinctive feature is the use of different viewpoints during the entire game; during normal gameplay and when fighting sub-bosses, the game utilizes a third-person perspective from behind the helicopter, but the camera changes to a top-down perspective when fighting bosses. Super Thunder Blade had four stages of play.
A.N.: I'm skipping Thunder Blade since it doesn't seem to be that relevant when we can have the upgraded version from the beginning. Also, putting it on the Arcade since I think that it would need something of an upgrade if we want to add it to our suped up Genesis, which I frankly don't see how to do it at the moment.
Video Game Pitch: Rent A Hero Game Developer: LucasArts Entertainment Platform: Sega Genesis Director: Yu Suzuki Genre: Action, Roleplaying, Parody
Premise: Rent A Hero is a RPG which unlike many of its contemporaries, is set in modern day Earth. The protagonist is Taro Yamada, a mild mannered young man who recently moved into the town of Corja with his eccentric family. During the house warming party, Taro tries to order pizza, ordering from "Sensational Cafeteria" (SECA), though in the process he accidentally leases Combat Armor which he is required to pay. Bored and desiring to become something greater, Taro becomes the hero "Rent A Hero", a titular hero for hire who performs various odd jobs and heroic deeds for the people of Corja, in the process becoming part of a greater world where he may soon need to step up and become a true hero.
Rent A Hero is a parody of the RPG genre and superhero comics, with lots of influence from Marvel. Unlike your normal RPG, progression in the game is driven by money which Taro earns through completing jobs and doing various odd tasks throughout the town, which he uses to keep the suit and upgrade it, as well as pay medical bills. The games storytelling is primarily comedic focused with a zany and tongue in cheek humor with lots of meta commentary, especially towards SEGA and the video game industry. Rent A Hero is less plot driven with the player having freedom to explore Corja and interact with its many citizens, often through hilarious plotlines.
Overtime, Taro finds himself accidentally becoming the primary opposition against Corja's Yakuza who deploy their own supervillains to keep their hold on the town and defeat Taro. This is less of a serious and dramatic plot, and more a continual storyline to provide a sense of progression and give players an end goal as the main gameplay is exploration and comedy.
Combat when taken place is not turn based but instead a side scroller beat em up with Taro using close combat and the Combat Suits gadgets to fight opponents of varying skill, though usually having some sort of comedic undertone. There will also be varying immersion mechanics and low-stakes minigames to provide a sense of realism to the town of Corja.
A/N: Discovered this amazing gem when researching first party Sega games. It was only distributed in Japan OTL, but by all accounts seems to be a very well put together and funny game that is basically a comedic Shenmue with superhero elements. I think this could really be a hit and the various parody elements would probably be amazing when reflecting TTL's developments and our company library.
Video Game Pitch: Tour de Genesis Game Developer: LucasArts Entertainment Platform: Sega Genesis Director: Alexandra Jones Genre: Sports
Premise: A simulation of competitive cycling, Tour de Genesis gives players the opportunity to simulate a bicycle race in competitions similar to the Tour De France. The object of the game is to simply place first by being the fastest and completing the course, competing against 19 other cyclists. The main mechanics are players using the A and B buttons to increase and decrease speed respectively. The player has a stamina bar that will decrease as the players travel over the median speed. When the stamina bar is depleted, the player slows to a crawl. The only way to refill stamina is to travel slower than the median speed, or use the C button to refill stamina with 3 servings of either protein bars or water, water drinks generally giving a greater boost.
There are in total five courses that generally take between 10-20 minutes depending upon time with extra emphasis on the environmental graphics to provide players a sense of immersion. The courses are:
Tour de Appalachia: A race course spread throughout the mid-Atlantic states
Tour de Hokkaido: A race course around Hokkaido island
Tour de Alps: A race course through the Alpine lands of France, Italy, Switzerland, and Austria
Tour de Cascadia: A race course through the American Northwest and British Columbia
Tour de Emerald: A race course through Ireland island.
We're not unstoppable, no, but we are very much a juggernaut now.
Thanks to Star Wars and the other blockbusters we've dished out, like Conan or Indy or Rocky, or every other thing, we are a big name studio.
In television, we have one of the most successful studios, thanks especially to our "no commercials" thing making it appealing to our audiences, not to mention hit shows like Family Ties or the Nguyens.
In gaming, we're the answer when someone asks who saved the Vidjagame industry in America (though Nintendo would have eventually saved it when the NES came out) and we're developing both home and arcade entertainment repution quickly.
Then Carrie made us (our fam at least) into prominent names in the US sports scene. This is already on top of Bruce's fame in boxing and his time at the Olympics.
Also, we've expanded to other areas thanks to investments in a lot of businesses, like Apple or Polaroid, and our charity programs too.
Our legacy (the studio's and our MC's) is very much ours to lose. If we ever sacrifice quality and fan happiness in the name of profit, that's the moment Id say we've lost.
But what if we did the opposite? Add the Genesis to our arcades.
Basically use our tech to upgrade the current arcade cabinets. It'll be pricier than the standard cabinet, but cheaper than an actual Genesis. Overall it'll upgrade the quality of games and further diversify our catalog of cabinets. Ofc, we only do this for some games, have our saloons be a mix of 8bit and 16bit. It'll also help convince people to buy the Genesis while allowing those who can't afford one to enjoy the wonders of 16bit.
"Grey Bomberman", a complete match for Bomberman himself in a grey and red palette, and as you would soon come to discover, your entire bane through the final five mazes.
That... thing, could only be one of the most despicable creatures to have come from the mouth of hell itself. A being that exists only to bring misery and pain whenever you are reaching the final levels, taunting you with the hope that you could finally reach the end before dashing away all of your hopes and dreams as you scream in vain at the screen for you character to move. You even tried to leave a trail of bombs once as you fled, and in the end it only made you move slower as he reached you, moving through them as if they were nothing.
You grew to loathe the Grey Bomberman, and you're sure that you were not the only one who felt stymied by such an unreasonable obstacle in halfway through the game.
Which made it all the more embarrassing when Mary pointed out how you could just leave obstacles in his path by strategically leaving some walls in his path as you escaped...
...You might not be as good in videogames as you thought.
Regardless, finding out the trick to finally get away from what is clearly the game's personal nemesis did not make it a cakewalk as one would have expected, but it did shift it from an impossible wall to a difficult challenge, one that you had to wrack your brains to overcome through strategic thinking and judicious use of bombs, as well as planning what direction it would take and how to overcome it eventually as you tried to flee to the next level.
Nice! This was my favorite part of the update and I love how alongside Bomberman becoming Sega's first mascot, that we introduced our first Mascot Villain with Grey Bomberman. It feels like Grey is gonna be Bomberman's Bowser throughout the rest of the series and I can just imagine him as a ruthless and vindictive Terminator like figure that hates White and wants to prove himself as the perfect Bomberman. Can easily see him as a clone of Bomberman in Smash.
Speaking of, how about for our Sega version of Smash we just steal the title of Multiversus and use that?
Overall really great update and glad to see Sega catching up with a massive success. Looking forward to the day we can make Sonic.
I mean Nintendo also has multiple mascot series like Mario, Zelda, Metroid, kirby etc. and they don't share a universe. So outside of some crossovers (Like a type of Mario Party or Mario sports) I don't think they should share the same universe.
I mean Nintendo also has multiple mascot series like Mario, Zelda, Metroid, kirby etc. and they don't share a universe. So outside of some crossovers (Like a type of Mario Party or Mario sports) I don't think they should share the same universe.
